Method and apparatus for accumulating material in spirals or rolls



' March 21, 1944. w, w l 2,344,661 METHOD AND APPARATUS \FOR ACCUMULATING MATERIAL IN SPIRALS 0R ROLLS Filed Sept. 17. 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR ML u/m BELL Wfl/T March 44- w. B. WAIT 2,344,661

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ACCUMULATING MATERIAL IN SPIRALS OR ROLLS Filed Sept. 17, 1 940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 4/ krrqnugv Patented Mar. 21, 1944 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ACCUMU- LATING MATERIAL IN SPIRALS OR ROLLS William Bell Wait, New York, N. Y.

Application September 17, 1940, Serial No. 357,094

7 Claims.

While this invention is applicable broadly for accumulating materials of various constructions, characteristics and compositions into a spiral or roll, but Without the intervention or use of spool or core, the objects and advantages of the invention will be described with reference to a strip of paper referred to as a tape, on which certain items of information are being recorded and in which the tape is drawn from a supply roll and made into smaller rolls if and as found desirable, containing identical or different lengths of tape.

In known apparatuses of this general character which include a supply roll, a take-up spool and a platen, whether stationary or rotatable, and used as a feeding roll, whenever tape is taken from the take-up spool at intervals before the supply roll is exhausted, it is necessary to tear the tape and anchor the new forward end from the supply roll to the take-up spool and employ a considerable length of the unused forward end of the tape to anchor it to the takeup spool, frequently requiring several turns of the end of the tape around the spool. The amount of tape extending from the recording pencil on the platen to the take-up spool plus the tape used in anchoring the fabric to the take-up spool cannot be used and is wasted.

In practice, too, when tearing off the tape so as to remove the recorded portion, a piece of.un

used tape is included with the record, thus making a loss at each end.

The feeding mechanism in these known apparatuses is such as to frequently preclude recording close to the rear end of the tape as it comes from the supply spool.

In everyday practice, with the use of such apparatuses, it is found that many short lengths of tape with their record are removed and that tape from the supply spool must be repeatedly threaded on to new take-up spools, with the result that the losses above described, on removing a tape record before the supply spool is ex haustcd, are repeated frequently and the losses of tape by reason of unused ends on such'short records are substantial.

Furthermore, the time occupied in removing a record, re-threading the tape and getting the instrument again ready for operation is substantial and expensive.

Among the objects of my invention are the provision of means whereby the objections referred to may be avoided and the operations greatly facilitated. Such means comprises devices by means of which the end of the tape may be pushed forward and automatically directed and curved into a spiral or roll, without a spool or core, by guiding means consisting of a spiral spring which causes the end of the tape to travel inwardly along the surface of the spiral spring and to spiral itself into a compact roll within the spring. I I

Experience has shown that when the tape is spiralled into a cylindrical coreless container, without the spring hereinafter referred to, that as the number of spiral turns of the tape increases, the friction between the turns also increases with the result that the inside diameter of the spiral does not reach the small proportions desired, thereby limiting the amount of tape which will feed into the container. It follows, therefore, that very little tape can be pushed into a cylindrical coreless container. I have discovered that if instead of a cylindrical container a flexible spiral spring having a floating inner end is used as a guide, and shaped so as to return the forward end of the tape upon itself at a point well within the spiral, a roll of relatively small internal diameter is formed initially and serves as a core upon which the on coming tape is externally wound.

Among the objects of my invention are provision of means to relieve the friction between the turns of tape, in the spiral from the center and thus enable the normal force transmitted to the tape by the platen to further enlargev the spiral and bring additional tape into a container. This means for relieving the friction between layers of the spiral, urges forward the forward end of the tape, causing the same to assume a diameter at the center of the spiral smaller than the diameter which it will normally assume without such overcoming of the internal friction between the layers in the spiral, with the result that the entire spiral tends to follow, thus creating room for more tape at the outer periphery and inside the container. I

This means for relieving the internal stress between the turns of the spiral may be referred to as tentaculated antennae and is of such construction that when the inner convolutions of the spiral have reached the minimum dimension desired, the compression which will then have been created by the diminishing spiral on the tentaculated, antennae, will serve to so change the shape of the antennae as to free-the tape .knife and into the spiral spring guide.

from the tentacle of the urging antennaeto release the driving engagement, with the tape-with the result that thereafter the revolving element to which the tentaculated antennae are attached, and by which they are moved, will continue to rotate the antennae, but with their smooth surface only against the tape, which will not urge the spiral to a smaller central diameter.

The freeing or releasing of the driving engagement of the tentacles of the antennae with the tape, permits the tape to be readily removed from the spiral spring guide when desired.

Other objects of the invention will appear from the following description taken in connection with the drawings, in which- Fig. l is a top plan view of mechanism illustrating my invention;

Fig. 2 is a front View of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a vertical section through the knife mechanism on the line.33 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 isv a: horizontal section taken substan tially on the lined-e4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is-a perspectiveview of. the knife guide, the tape slot, and the tape spiralin guide. and container for the accumulated tape; and

Fig. .6 shows a modification of the auxiliary means for aiding the spiraling of the tape'and the accumulation of the tape into. a smaller spiral or roll.

For the purposes of disclosure, I have. illustrated my invention as carried out inconnection with. a tape feedingrnechanism which includes a. supply roll l0 fora tape ll whichis fed by means of a rotatable platen feedingroll l2 under .a marker l3, the platen .roll operating to feed the tape into aspiral spring guide. 50 within a housing l4 suitably supported ona mounting frame IS on which also-are supported the supply roll and other elements of the mechanism herenafter described. This mounting frame may be supported on a bracket or table l6 and may be secured thereto by any suitable means. The platenfeeding roll l2 maybe mounted on a shaft I'Iwhich may be driven by any suitable means.

.In orderto press the tape against the platen feeding roll l2.which may beprovided with pins l8 which either perforate or engage perforations in the tape, I. provide a pair of idle pressure roll devices and 2|.for pressing the tape into contact with the feeding roll at opposite sides of the pencil or marker-l3. vEach of these rolls may consist of anaxle 22 each ,end of which is equipped with a grooved roll 23. The axle may be supported on a bar 25 projecting laterally from and supported on a bell crank lever 26 suitably pivoted on the, mounting frame 15 andthe rolls may be held in contact with the tape by means of a spring latch 28 connected to the mounting frame l5 as indicated and provided with an eye .29 by means of which its end portion 30 which engages in a hole in an arm of the bell crank lever 26 maybe disengaged to -.release the rolls if such is found desirable to thread the tape through the apparatus.

The platen feeding roll 12 is preferably driven from a shaft I l by means which permits a ready disconnection fromapd a relative rotation of the roll with respect tothe shaft for the purpose of threading thetape through the apparatus and .after recording; to feed the portion of the tape on which the last item is recorded past the severing For this purpose the-inner face-of one end of theroll I2 is provided with grooves 3| to receive projections housing M, which may be connected to the mounting frame l5 as indicated at 33. proper may be made in two parts as indicated The knife block for the purpose of easy assembly of the knife in the block. This block is provided with a rectangular elongated slot 4!] to receive a knife sup- .porting cam bar 4| to which is secured a knife blade 42 operating in knife blade slot 3 extendingacross the tape guideway 37. The knife is held in its. retracted position by a spring 44 and moved forward to cut the tape by a sliding cam bar 45, the upper end of which is provided with an operating button 46. The knife is operated by pulling the operating button 46 upwardly.

The various elements which define the tape guideway 3! and the .knife, receiving slots M3 and 43 may if desired be fashioned out of a single block or out of a plurality of blocks or pieces as disclosed and may be held in assembled position by being mounted separately on the mounting frame 15 and/or by means of a cover plate 41 which engages studs 43 on elements of the block as indicated and which may be supported on a stud slidably mounted in the main section of the knife block so that it may be moved upwardly and swung horizontally into the position shown in Fig. 5providing access to the tape guide and knife blade slots.

As the tape is pushed through the guideway 31 its front. end encounters the spiral spring guide 50 secured to the housing and block indicated and travels along the inner face of the spiral spring guide and as the feed continues the inner end of the tape will curl into a spiral or roll which will continue to increase in size as more tape is fed into the spiral spring guide and may increase in size until it fills the housing H, the spiral spring guide expanding with the spiral or roll of accumulated tape as it increases in size.

For the purpose of assisting in this spiraling operation of the tape and of producing a spiral or roll of smaller diameter, auxiliary feeding mechanism may be provided. This as disclosed in Fig. 1 consists of an arbor or shaft 52 suitably mounted in the mounting frame and provided with spring fingers 53 which when the shaft is rotated will engage the tape as indicated in this figure assisting it in its travel along the surface of the spiral spring guide and functioning to produce a spiral of smaller diameter. This shaft 52 is driven from the shaft l? which drives the platen feeding roll by any suitable driving mechanism 54, the gear ratio of which is such that the ends of the spring fingers 53 will travel faster than the, rate of feed of the tape into the spiral spring guide 59. This means relieves the friction between the turns of the tape, in the spiral from the center and thus enables the normal force transmitted to the tape by the platen to further enlarge the spiral and bring additional taps into the housing. This means for relieving the friction .between layers of the spiral, urges forward the forward end of the tape, causing the same to assume a diameter at the center of the spiral smaller than the diameter which it will normally assume without such overcoming of the internal friction between the layers in the spiral, with the result that the entire spiral tends'to follow, thus creating room for more tape at the outer periphery and inside the housing.

This means forrelieving the internal stress between the turns of the spiral may be referred to as tentaculated antennae and is of such construction that when the inner co'nvolutions of the spiral have reached the minimum dimension desired, the compression which will then have been created by the diminishing spiral on the tentaculated antennae, will serve to so change the shape of the antennae as to free the tape from the urging antennae-to release the drivin engagement with the tape-with the result that thereafter the revolvin element to which the tentaculated antennae are attached, and by which they are moved, will continue to rotate the antennae, but with their smooth surface only against the tape, which will not urge the spiral to a smaller central diameter.

As disclosed in Fig. 6 the spring fingers here indicated as 56 may comprise a spring section 51 and an outer substantially rigid tape engaging hook ended portion 58, the curvature of the portion 58 being such that the finger will cause a reduction in the diameter of the spiral or roll of tape as it is being formed to a predetermined length, after which the hooks on the portions 58 will be disengaged from the tape and only the intermediate smooth section of the arm 51 will be in engagement with the tape which will not produce sufiicient friction to cause the spiral or roll to be reduced to smaller diameter than that desired.

In the operation of the device, the tape issuing from the feeding and guiding means contacts in parallel relationship the inner surface of the outer convolution of the spiral spring guide which leads the tape along its inner surface and into a spiral with a smaller inner diameter than is possible without th spiral spring guide. Under continued feeding the tape accumulates within the spiral spring guide the outer diameter of the accumulated roll increasing and forcing the spiral spring guide back as more tape is received. The arrangement enables the machine to produc compact rolls with relatively small inside diameters and to produce rolls of different outside diameters.

By reason of the friction between the convolutions of the tape the inside diameter of the roll is determined by the point of overlapping entapes of paper, but also strips and sheets of paper and tapes, strips and sheets of any other material that may be accumulated in a roll by means of my invention.

While I have described forms of my invention with great particularity for purposes of disclosure, it is to be understood that this is not to be considered limitative and that I reserve the right to all such changes as fall within-the principles of my invention and the scope of the appended claims.

I claim a 1. The 'methodof accumulating sheet material in spiral form which consists in pushin the sheet forwardly and in guiding the forward end of the sheet along the course of a spiral in the direction of decreasing radii of the spiral, in first urging the [forward end of said sheet forwardly ata greater rate of speed than the rate at which said sheet is pushed forwardly to relieve the friction between the turns of accumulated sheet, and

in then urging the forward end of said sheet forwardly at the same rate of rotational speed as the rotational speed of the accumulated sheet due to pushing the sheet forwardly to assist the spiraling operation.

2. A coreless sheet material accumulator comprising an inwardly directed spiral spring guide and sheet feedin means for feeding said sheet against the inner face of the outer end of the spiral spring guide and in the direction of decreasing radii of the guide and rotatable means disposed at the center of said spiral spring guide frictionally engaging and urging the forward end of said sheet forwardly.

3. A coreless sheet material accumulator comprising an inwardly directed spiral sprin guide and sheet feeding means for feeding said sheet against the inner face of the outer end of the spiral spring guide and in the direction of decreasing radii of the spiral spring guide to roll said sheet and rotatable means disposed at the center of said spiral spring guide frictionally engaging and urging the forward end of said sheet forwardly, said means comprising a rotatable shaft and spring arms on said shaft engaging the surface of said sheet.

4. A coreless sheet material accumulator comprising an inwardly directed spiral spring guide and sheet feeding means for feeding said sheet against the inner face of the outer end of the spiral spring guide and against the outer face of the outer convolution of the sheet spiral and in the direction of decreasing radii of the spiral spring guide to roll said sheet, rotatable means disposed at the center of said spiral spring guide frictionally engaging and urging the forward end of said sheet forwardly, said means comprising a rotatable shaft and spring arms on said shaft engaging the surface of said sheet, and means for rotating said shaft and spring arms to cause the outer ends of said arms to travel in frictional contact with the surface of the forward end portion of the sheet at a greater speed than the rate of feed given the sheet by said feeding means.

5. A coreless sheet material accumulator comprising a spira1 spring guide and sheet feeding means for feeding said sheet against the inner face of the outer end of the spiral spring guide and against the outer face of the outer convolution of the sheet spiral and in the direction of decreasing radii of the convolution of the spiral spring guide, rotatable means disposed at the center of said spiral spring guide frictionally engaging and urging the forward end of said sheet forwardly, said means comprising a rotatable shaft and spring arms on said shaft engaging said sheet, and means for rotating said shaft and spring arms to cause the outer ends of said arms to travel in frictional contact with the surface of the forward end portion of the sheet at a greater speed than the rate of feed given the sheet by said feeding means, the outer portions of said arms being rigid whereby the free ends of said rigid portions will be disengaged from sald sheet after the inside diameter of the sheet spiral has been reduced to the desired amount.

6. A coreless sheet material accumulator comprising a flexible spiral spring guide and means for feeding and guiding a sheet against the inner face of the outer convolution of the spiral guide parallel thereto and along the guide in the direction of decreasing radii, the inner end of the spiral guide being shaped to return the forward end of the sheet upon itself at a point within the spiral and beyond the point of first contact with the outer convolution.

7. A coreless accumulator for a movable record sheet comprising a. flexible spiral spring guide and means including a driven mechanism for feeding and guiding the sheet against the inner face of the outer convolution of the spiral spring guide parallel thereto and along the surface of the guide in the direction of the decreasing radii of the spiral and into overlapping relation to the sheet being fed at a point within the spiral to form a roll having a relatively small interior convolution.

WM. BELL WAIT. 

